Dreamer (Highland Treasure Trilogy) (31 page)

Catherine’s soft touch on his chin
brought his gaze back to her face. Her eyes swam with unshed tears. “I want you
to come back safely to me. And while you are away--if you find the answers that
you are seeking--then I only ask that you not act in haste.”      

“If I did not know my wife better,
I’d say you were worried about Adam of the Glen.”

“My loyalty lies where my heart
is...and that is with you.” She placed both hands on his shoulders and gazed
into his eyes. “And I want you to have no regret--years from now--over
something you might do in haste this day.”

 “Adam deserves the punishment that
awaits him.”

“Perhaps that is so, John. But ‘twas because of your father’s wrongdoing that Adam was born in the first place. You should
know that his faithlessness hurt your mother deeply. And yet, so many years
later, ‘tis your mother who feels guilty for not accepting and raising Adam as
her own. She is convinced that is because of
her
actions that you two
are now at each other’s throat.”

“That’s nonsense. ‘Tis--”

“You are her son as much your
father’s.” Catherine’s feathery touch caressed his face. “I love you so much. I
do not want to see you suffer for the rash act of an angry moment.”

She brushed her lips on his chin,
across his lips and then looked into his face.

“I believe in you, John Stewart,
and I know you will do the right thing. Just hurry and come back to us, since
your bairn and I both will be needing you.”

*****

Trying to calm herself, Catherine
shifted the small chest from beneath one arm to the other and stepped into the
Great Hall. Susan was not there, either.

John would be just fine, she kept
reminding herself. After all, this was his land. These were his people. He was
traveling with his own men--men armed and sworn to serve and protect him.

But by the Virgin, she worried,
gnawing her lip, why couldn’t he have taken more of his warriors with him...as
he
had
been doing? Why had he left Tosh behind?

Trying to recall how many of Adam’s
men she had seen in the encampment, Catherine couldn’t help but worry about
what would ever happen if Adam were to set a trap for Athol. She would remember
to her dying day the look of hatred she’d seen in Adam’s eyes.

She should have gone with him!
Perhaps with her there, the other man...

Catherine shook her head. She was
losing her mind. The earl of Athol had managed to survive many battles without
her. He would come back. He had to.

“Mistress Catherine.”

She jumped at the sound of the
monk’s voice in her ear. Turning sharply to Brother Bartholomew, she gave him
her darkest scowl. “Now I know you’re pleased with yourself, Brother, over your time with the bishop at Elgin, but I see no reason for you to be scaring me
half to death.”

“I do beg your forgiveness,
mistress, but...aye, what a lovely man Bishop Patrick is!”

“Humph!” Catherine said, keeping an
eye open for Susan. “I wouldn’t know.”

“M’lady, I know I haven’t had a
chance to speak to you privately since my return, but you’ve been scurrying
here, and scurrying there.”

“Humph!” she said again with a
frown.

“But we’re so happy to find you here.”

Catherine looked at him as he
gestured to the other two monks sitting at a table on the far side of the Great
Hall.

“Very well, Brother,” she responded
thoughtfully, starting across the Hall. “Perhaps now would be a good time to
talk.”

 Sitting at the table with the
three clerics, Catherine clutched the wooden chest in her lap and listened to Bartholomew tell what the bishop had agreed to supply. When he was finished, she in turn
informed them of the earl’s position on the school and of all the other details
that she had finalized so far with him.         

When she was finished, Catherine
turned to the monks and waited for any questions they might have. All three
appeared quite content with her news.

“Very well!” she said, standing up
and glancing down at the wooden chest in her hands. “I may just recommend to my
husband that we hold discussions in the Great Hall. It certainly makes for
productive use of time.”

“You have something else on your
mind, I take it?” Brother Bartholomew asked. Something we can be of assistance
with?”

Catherine purposely hesitated, then
nodded to Brother Bartholomew’s question. “Aye, you can. I was looking for
Mistress Susan.” She scanned the faces of some folk just entering the Great
Hall. “But now that you ask, I wonder if one of you sweet men might take this
chest to my chamber. I’m getting a bit tired of carrying it to and fro.”

She turned to the monks and found
three sets of eyes staring at the ornate box which she held before her.

“Remembering your pranks of years
past, mistress.” Brother Paul grinned. “I have learned never to take anything
from your hand that might contain some species of vermin or a viper.”

Catherine feigned a look of shock
and turned to Brother Egbert. “You have certainly never been afraid of my tricks,
good brother. So if
you
would be kind enough to take it.” She lowered
her voice to a whisper. “‘Tis a keepsake newly arrived from my mother.”

“I’ll be more than happy to take
it, mistress.” Brother Bartholomew broke in.

Catherine turned and looked attentively
at portly monk. “That is quite thoughtful of you. You realize that the
safekeeping of this chest is something I would not entrust to just anyone.”

The monk nodded solemnly and took
the chest out of Catherine’s hands.

“The safekeeping of all you hold
dear is a task I take to heart, mistress.”

*****

Safely ensconced in Susan’s
bedchamber, Catherine gazed at her companion’s ashen face and almost regretted
revealing the truth of where Athol had gone.

Moving to where Susan sat somberly
on the side of the bed, Catherine took her hands. “But why are you so upset
about this news? What is it that you know? Tell me, Susan.”

The younger woman’s misty gaze
lifted and caught Catherine’s. “That’s where Adam has gone, as well. Before we left last night, he told me that, after moving his camp, he was going to ride east--to
await the arrival of the earl of Huntly.”

Catherine felt the knot form in her
belly, and suddenly a wave of nausea washed over her. Even as she fought down
the bile rising in her throat, she knew the sickness had nothing to do with the
child that she was carrying, but rather the possible danger awaiting the
father. Standing and crossing to the window, she pulled open the shutters and
breathed in a chest full of air.

This was exactly what she feared.
She would never forgive herself if John were hurt.

A moment later, she felt Susan’s
gentle touch on her shoulder. “We are more helpless in this than we thought.”

Catherine turned around and faced
her. The trembling lips told her of her new friend’s fear. She herself would
need to be strong, Catherine reminded herself. The same way that she’d been
strong with her sisters through the ordeal of her father’s death and the
absence of their mother.

“Nay, Susan,” Catherine announced
at last.  “We do not have to be helpless. We’re assuming the worst will
happen...and without cause. They may not even encounter one another between
here and Huntly Castle. And if all goes well and both of them return unharmed
from this trip, then we will have a second chance to set things right. But we must be prepared.”

The younger woman twisted her hands
together in a nervous gesture and nodded her agreement. “I suppose you’re
right.

“Aye. That’s the spirit. First, we
must consider what we know.”

“About their pasts, you mean?”

“Aye.” Feeling a bit better and
more in control, Catherine walked back to the middle of the room. “We know they
were sired by the same father. Lady Anne said as much to Athol.”

“True. Adam has said so many
times.”

Catherine turned to Susan. “Do you
know how Adam came to learn the truth? Did he ever say that? Did he always know
it?”

“From what he told me, he knew
nothing about being a Stewart until the age of fifteen, when he was sent to London and held prisoner when the Treaty of Bruges was signed.”

Catherine couldn’t keep the note of
surprise out of her voice. “But that treaty ended the war with France...the war between England and France! Why should he be sent to prison?”

Susan’s face was grim. “Because he was...he is...of Stewart blood.”

“I do not understand why...”

“Because Scotland and France have always been allied against the English. Thirteen years ago, when the treaty was
signed, a number of men--all kin to the king--were gathered and shipped to
England to be kept in prisons as surety against the articles of the peace. So
they came after him. ‘Twas only then that he was told he was the son of the
earl of Athol and half-brother to the earl’s heir.”

“How could neither brother have
known?”

Susan shook her head. “Since he was
a bairn, Adam was raised as a member of the earl of Huntly’s household. He was
never told who his true parents were, but was treated well and given the same
education as any noble blooded lad. The earl of Huntly treated him like his own
kin, and Adam told me that for many years, he simply assumed he was the bastard
son of the earl, himself.”

 “And he was taken at the age of
fifteen!” Catherine began pacing the room. “What happened to him then?”

“He was held in the Tower of London for twelve years--treated with less dignity than the river rats that
swarmed in each night. He told me that during all those years the only thing
that kept him alive was the thought of returning to Scotland and taking revenge
on the man who had put him there. The legitimate son of John Stewart! The
brother that he’d learned to hate.”

Catherine shook her head. “But that cannot be. Athol never knew about Adam’s existence until only days before we wed. There
was no way he could be held responsible for sending him there. And I am certain he knows none of this even now. Nothing of where Adam has been or the reason
for his hatred!”

Susan sat heavily on the side of
the bed. “I know. But I have had no way of telling Adam’s side of things. And what could I have said to Adam about the earl? What could I have said in his defense that
Adam would have believed?”

“But about this treaty?” Catherine
pressed. “Adam believes that John had some influence in it? But how could he? He was a young man himself then!”

“Adam told me that one of those he
was imprisoned with had told him that John Stewart had given him up.” She
looked grimly at Catherine. “John Stewart.”

“Aye, but thirteen years
ago...wasn’t the father still alive then? He was John Stewart, as well.”

“Your husband was the one who stood
to gain by such a decision.”

“Aye, but ‘twas a decision he knew
nothing about,” Catherine cut in. “Think on it. What choice did the old earl
have? Someone had to go! He had to send a son. As other Stewarts did. How many
of them would send their firstborn?”

Susan’s words were so soft, but so
full of pain, that Catherine could feel her own heart ache for the woman. “So
he picked his elder son to stay.”

“And his second son to go.” Seeing
the tears beginning to trickle down Susan’s face, Catherine crouched before the
younger woman. “‘Tis very sad, Susan.”

“Adam will hurt all the more to
learn of this! To think that his mother rejected him, deserted him. That his
father, too...that his own father chose to send him off--” The tears choked off
Susan’s words. “Who has not rejected him? Betrayed him?”

Catherine sat beside her, holding
her as the young woman sobbed out her sadness for the man she loved. When the
shuddering subsided, Catherine wiped the tears from Susan’s face.

“Maybe ‘tis better this way. Those
who are gone are to be blamed. He must make peace with the kin he has left.”

Susan shook her head. “He will not
believe what we say. He is so full of hatred for Athol that--”

“Perhaps we can prove to him what
we know to be true. Through the earl of Huntly... perhaps even through the
documents that signed him over. I am certain there must be a way to make him
understand.”

“‘Tis just that he has spent all of
his life without love.”

“But no longer, Susan. He has you
now. And if we can help him through to the truth, he might have a brother in
John, as well. And a sister in me.”

The young woman nodded, but
Catherine knew that she was not still convinced. And who could blame her? To
make Adam simply forget the past seemed to be as great a challenge as having
Athol ignore the destruction the other man had brought to his people and his
lands.

A tremendous undertaking for all of
them.

In an attempt to shake off the
gloom that was settling on them, Catherine placed a gentle hand on Susan’s
shoulder and looked into her face. “Tell me how you two met.”

Susan blushed and stared down at
her hands. “My journey to Balvenie happened to coincide with Adam’s arrival in Scotland. My party was attacked and some of the warriors escorting me fled in the melee.” A
faint smile broke out on the young woman’s lips. “I was left nearly alone to
ward off Adam and his men.”

“It must have been terrifying for
you!”

“Aye. ‘Twas a wild scene! I’d never
seen such a thing. I am the youngest of eight in my family, Catherine. This
trip was my first venture into the world. I put up a great show of courage,
though, I think. I believe...my actions...well, amused Adam. They talked of
cutting throats, since we carried very little of value. And I didn’t care for
the way some of the men looked at me. But then Adam cursed at his men and told
them to take the horses and point my escort toward Balvenie.” Susan’s voice
took on a dreamy tone. “He reached down and caught me up with one hand. He sat
me on his horse in front of him, and we were away like the wind.”